Sophocles Ajax 1083

ed. Lewis Campbell

ἐξ οὐρίων δραμοῦσαν εἰς βυθὸν πεσεῖν.

Ajax. Sophocles. ed. Lewis Campbell. Oxford. 1879.

Current edition Experimental

Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) (Greek) (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (3)
Αἴας μαστιγοφόρος First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Aiax. Lobeck Christian, editor. Berlin: Weidmann, 1866.) — 1161-1196 focus
Αἴας First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Fabulae. Pearson, Alfred Chilton, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.) — 1185-1222 focus
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 1185-1222 focus
Translations (2)
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 1091 focus
Menelaos, hast du weise Lehren aufgestellt,
Dann übe selbst an Todten keinen Uebermuth.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 1185-1220 focus

Commentary

Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) (Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) focus

1083. mvp-comment-694-1 ἐξ οὐρίων δραμοῦσαν] 'Must lose her fair course and founder in the deep.' The aorist denotes what is certain in the future, as in Aesch. Prom. 667, 8, πυρωπὸν ἐκ Διὸς μολεῖν | κεραυνόν. ἐξ οὐρίων (neut. pl.) = ἐκ τοῦ οὐρίου δρόμου, just as οὔρια θεῖν = ἐς οὔριον δρόμον θεῖν (L. and S. s. ν. οὔριος, Ι. 1). Cp. Aesch. Prom. 883, 4, ἔξω δὲ δρόμου φέρομαι | λύσσης πνεύματι μάργῳ: Pind. Pyth. 11. 60, ἤ μέ τις ἄνεμος ἔξω πλόου | ἔβαλεν, ὡς ὅτ᾽ ἄκατον εἰναλίαν. It is true that, as Lobeck remarks, ἐξ οὐρίων, sc. πνευμάτων, is used by late writers as equivalent to ἐξ οὐρίας, sc. πνοῆς, – 'With a fair wind.' But what meaning can be attached to this phrase here? 'Will run a straight course to the bottom'? or, 'Will have a fair voyage, and then sink'? The former is nonsensical, and in the latter the oxymoron has no such point as in O. Τ. 423, ἄνορμον εἰσέπλευσας, εὐπλοίας τυχών. Or, if it is proposed to render, 'After once having had prosperity, will run on and founder in the depths,' the introduction of the participle is inconsistent with this use of ἐξ, for which, however, cp. Thuc. 1. 120, ἐξ εἰρήνης πολεμεῖν.